ThinkBiz Podcast

Comedy As A Service with Adrian Doell

• ThinkBiz.Solutions • Season 2 • Episode 4

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What if the first spark of recovery is a laugh you didn’t think you had left? We sit with Adrian, a paramedic and registered cardiovascular invasive specialist who spends his nights building Life of Laughter, a nonprofit that brings clean, purposeful comedy into rehab facilities. He’s fixing hearts at the hospital and then meeting those same hearts where shame and fear usually win, using craft, care, and community to make sobriety feel vivid and possible.

Adrian shares how he shifted from dirtier material to clean sets after listening to what fragile rooms actually need. We dig into the ethics of originality, the mechanics of joke structure, and the neuroscience that links laughter with neuroplasticity and healthier dopamine. The darkness in his stories; addiction, loss, the messy fallout of bad choices, never becomes the punchline. Instead, it frames the lift, showing clients that joy can be earned without substances and that a shared laugh can open the door to a different identity.

We also explore a new two-day model: a Friday night show followed by a Saturday workshop that teaches how to reframe experiences and write jokes from hard moments, culminating in supportive performances for staff. Along the way, Adrian talks candidly about sobriety in the comedy world, why clubs value clean, reliable comics, and how authenticity on stage mirrors the work of recovery. It’s part craft lesson, part field report, and part invitation to see humor as a serious tool for healing.

If this story resonates, share it with someone who could use a hopeful nudge, subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of creativity and change, and leave a review to help others find the show. Want to support Adrian’s mission or book a show? Visit lifeoflaughter.org.

// Thank you for listening to the show!

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Podcast is produced by Hammonds Media. For assistance with you digital marketing needs, visit https://www.hammondsmedia.com

SPEAKER_00:

Solutions. Nailed it. Happy Tuesday, everyone. We are back in studio with another guest host, Garrett Hammonds, who has abandoned us. What up, what up? It's just because we are better in Norman than uh than all of you OKC people. I met some of your Normanites, and they are you you highfalutin uh boiler room meeting people. We at our club, we do have to walk down like these dungeon level stairs to be able to get down into the basement. And the room is very nice, but it does look like you know it's a there's a dragon that's gonna be at the bottom somewhere. Arguably an excellent person to network with if there was a dragon down there.

unknown:

True.

SPEAKER_00:

Talk about investors. Yeah. Oh man. But we are in studio today with Adrian. How are you today, sir? Doing great, fellas. How are you doing? We are doing well. We have fresh coffee in the pot. Good day. Adrian, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What do you get up to? Which of the groups can people come to and think biz to meet you as well?

SPEAKER_01:

I go to the four o'clock on Tuesdays at the 3810 building.

SPEAKER_00:

Excellent.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

OKC for the win. You were outnumbered today, Garrett. Whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

Was the Norman a Thinkbiz? Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, I didn't know there were multiples. For all of our listeners, we have a 9 30 a.m. on Tuesdays, a 4 p.m. on Tuesdays in OKC. There's a Wednesday morning in Edmund, and there is whenever you Norman morning at 9 a.m. in Norman. See? So you can find us all across the central Oklahoma metro area. We're awesome. We cannot emphasize enough how awesome we are. We we cannot. Dirk will always undersell us as far as how cool we are. But Adrian, we are only amateur lay comedic actors over here. Our specialties are in other places. So could you give us a little skinny on what it is that you get up to every day for work?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, professionally, I'm a paramedic and a registered cardiovascular invasive specialist. So I work in the cath lab at the hospital. By night, I run a nonprofit organization. It's called Life of Laughter. And we take comedy into rehabs. I'm a recovering addict and alcoholic. And so yeah, we're I'm a stand-up comedian and we go into rehabs. We give them about an hour of comedy, and then everyone they just connected with gets up and talks about their struggles and uh redemption and recovery. So I'm literally working on people's hearts by day and by night, spiritually working on people's hearts.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, you're stitching them up at the beginning of the day, and you're busting stitches by the end.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, exactly. What a life people in.

SPEAKER_00:

What a life. When you first said by night, I was like, is he Batman? So trying to tell us.

SPEAKER_01:

Dude, I wish. I wish I was Batman. You know, when I was little, I uh fell off of a fence and landed on my head. And I've ever since then have seen this like floater in my eye. And when I was a kid, I was like, that might be my bat radar. I might grow up to be Batman. Why do we fall, Master Adrian?

SPEAKER_00:

I may say that that sounds like an offensive experience. Oh, good lord. That's terrible. Okay. Adrian, help us as good as I get. Help us out a little bit, though, for the audience, right? It's a common thing in business for us to try and make some levity, build some rapport, tell some jokes. Is there anything you would love for people to stop in how they make their own jokes or the jokes they tell?

SPEAKER_01:

Just don't steal jokes from other people. Well, I mean, street jokes are street jokes. Everybody loves a good street joke, but you can't claim a street joke as your own. That's like the cardinal sin in comedy is using somebody else's material. So yeah, I have to write all my own.

SPEAKER_00:

So uh I mean, but the way that you use comedy, that is something that I've not ever heard done before. And it just sounds amazing. So you're you're working with folks who have have been through some pretty tough stuff, some some dark moments in their life.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And you are you were using you know this brightness that comes along with laughter and and comedy. How did you how did you come to where you are today in making the organization?

SPEAKER_01:

Comedy's an addiction in itself. So I'm an alcoholic, so it's everything in abundance, right? Like no limits. And uh I found comedy and basically I just recently got a certification that would allow me to travel for work if I wanted to and make pretty sick money. And so I was like, I'm gonna retire you. We're gonna hit the road, I'm gonna buy a camper. I was literally looking at trailer parks in New Jersey so I could just hop across to New York. And my wife's like, hold on a second, dude. Like, we have a kid, I'm not living in a camper. Like, pull it back a little bit. So I didn't do comedy for all of last December, and then most of January, I think I only did one show, and the Holy Spirit gave me this idea, man. Like, you need to be helping other people. And so I'm like, how can I because I didn't want to lose comedy because I was like, I gotta family comes first, but I still love comedy, and so it was like, who needs comedy more than anybody? And it's these people that are broken, rock bottom, they're like, What did I just do to myself? You know, I I think that recovery can be so boring. You know, when I was in rehab 20 years ago, I hated it. When I got there, everybody's like, You got drunk on your birthday? I've been shooting dope for 15 years, like, you don't belong here. So I went through my entire time in rehab with the mindset, I don't belong here, I'm gonna get out and get drunk. And so then I just perpetuated a party lifestyle for 20 years. And if I'd had something a little less terrible, I could have maybe wound up not doing that for 20 years. But then I wouldn't have anything to share with people. I wouldn't be able to, you know, encourage other people through my terrible decisions and and experiences that I went through. So there's definitely a reason that I wound up the way I did.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, what is it that you find people who are, you know, going through a rough time? What type of comedy do they actually need the most? Because I'm a nerd. Spoiler. Spoiler alert for those of you that don't know me personally. I couldn't tell. And and to best of my understanding, there's generally a few types of comedy that jokes are kind of based off of. There's the sexual humor, the the normal locker room type jokes, right? There's subversion of expectation. So you say one thing and then the next thing out of your mouth is just completely different, right? Right. And then there's just nonsense. That's baby humor. That's what my three-year-old really loves right now. But what type of humor do people actually need whenever they are going through a hard time?

SPEAKER_01:

So I used to be historically a pretty dirty comic, and I got some feedback. You know, I just started this in April, so it's this whole year's been a learning situation. I've done 20 shows since April, and I've learned a lot, and I've learned that people don't necessarily want to hear a bunch of dirty jokes. And I had some people get offended in the rehabs. I mean, it was a it was a mixed rehab, so men and women. And it was kind of funny to me. It's like, like, really, you're offended? Like, weren't you just shooting meth into your neck like three weeks ago? And but like, you gotta look at the perspective of other people. A lot of these people are very fragile at this time and easy to trigger. And so I've actually transformed into a clean comic. For the most part, Life of Laughter is a clean comedy show. I've got some guys that do some risque jokes, but they're not super offensive like mine were.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Spoil alert, I'm a nerd too.

SPEAKER_00:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

And so I totally nerd out with comedy. There's a great book by Jerry Corley. It's called uh Breaking Comedy's DNA.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And it completely breaks down the structure of a joke. So there's 13 joke structures, nine laugh triggers that literally force you to laugh. Like the guy was studying neuroscience to back up his theories. Nice. And so I'm all about employing different structures, the reverse, like you mentioned. And there's there's so many different structures you can employ. I like to write everything out and then go through and then add the structure that pulls the triggers and forces people to laugh.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, uh curiosity on my end, right, is I have to deal in my business as spiritual consultant for lots of different people that open lots of different holy books. There's this problem amongst most spiritual communities, Christian, Buddhist, atheist, regardless, of German word called Schadenfreude. So enjoying and feeling catharsis around other people's suffering. And that's one of the hardest things to break in my practices, getting people to stop viewing other people's harm and the pain that they've gone through as a form of relief. And so, what is it through comedy and through the structures that you understand that can get people out of that form of catharsis, that can get people out of that drudgery and that negativity?

SPEAKER_01:

A lot of my material is based around my addiction and just being completely out of control and off the wall for years and years and years. I do put a lot of my pain into in my comedy because I feel like if I can make something that I went through that was terrible, funny, and give somebody else some joy out of that while also sharing that I've been through some stuff, then it's a win-win, man.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I have a joke that's about losing my parents. And that was like a horrible time in my life, probably the darkest time in my life, and I turned it into a joke.

SPEAKER_00:

But there's a different way that you turn it into a joke, from what I understand. It's the the darkness isn't necessarily the punchline.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct.

SPEAKER_00:

What is it that you do with that darkness to actually find some kind of silver lining or that jubilation to come out of it?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I just kind of make I just kind of the darkness is there, but I kind of dance around it and then make it into something funny. It's kind of crazy when I came up with this idea, it was almost like my whole life flashed before my eyes. Like this is why. And it was kind of like an aha moment, like, oh my gosh, this is why I've been through everything I've been through, either self-inflicted or otherwise, so that I can help these other people, you know. Like one of the biggest things that I've come across is people are like, I can have fun sober, and a lot of them have never experienced that in their entire life, and then it's like, whoa, you just made rehab fun. Like, how fun can life be outside of this place? Yeah. So yeah, there's a lot of like, oh wow, okay. And uh it's really neat to see that. Because yeah, because I mean, man, a lot of these people are hurting, especially in some of these places. It's like state funded. Some of these places they're court ordered to be there. And so they're just here I am, what did I do to my life? How do I avoid getting back to this point?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. There's when I was going through school, there was some research I came across related to comedy and and coping with 9-11 that was fascinating because there was there was this legitimate case made for, you know, exactly what you're talking about, really tough time where people had lost family members, where culturally as a society we'd gone through this mass event that changed all the you know the way that we function and yet comedy helped people cope. And so I love that like you've you've taken this idea of like we have darkness in life, but there's there's light that is amongst that, and it's it's beautiful. With your model, do you do you go from you know facility to facility and work with them separately, or do you have your own space that people come and are part of the rehab? What's that kind of look like? It's kind of funny that you asked that question.

SPEAKER_01:

So right now we cold calling is how I've gotten into these places. Like normal people just don't go into rehab and get to talk to people. It's like kind of wild how it's all just and I'm learning everything like as I go. So it's just like okay, we're going to Nebraska for th two days in January, and then we're going to Missouri the next week. And so just by linking up with different facilities, I've gotten connections that other people that are affiliated with that facility are like, okay, I we wanna we want to try this out too. And the feedback has just been amazing. Right now, it's funny you talk about coping with 9-11. Right now, I'm developing a sort of curriculum, I guess you could say. So I want to do a two-day experience where and I and then I can market that and make more revenue for the corporation. So basically the first night, Friday night, let's say, we'd go do what we're doing now, and then the next day after breakfast, we would sit down in a classroom. Now, all this was speculation when I was coming up with it. Laughter affects your neuroplasticity in your brain. It also can reroute neural pathways, aka turn something traumatic into something not so traumatic. So we would sit down, talk about that. We're literally feeding people dopamine, which you need dopamine to live. Yep. You just need to acquire, you need to work for your dopamine and acquire dopamine in healthy ways rather than drugs. Yes. And so we would sit down in a classroom style. I would explain how it reroutes neural pathways. It it literally can change the way that you think about an event or something like that. Give them a crash course in how comedy works, and then break out into groups, and then take something that was either traumatic or something that they're ashamed of, and then help them turn that into a joke, which they could then perform for their staff that night in like a Kiltoni style panel. Yeah. We can make fun of their staff, like it could be great. So yeah, it was all speculation, and then I started looking more and more into it. It's all real. This has all been scientifically proven. So I'm getting together research right now to back that, and then I can start pitching that to facilities.

SPEAKER_00:

That's amazing. So, what what do you find is kind of the hardest hurdle around actually selling comedy to people as the solution?

SPEAKER_01:

Getting uh well, I don't know. I don't know that there's any been any hurdles. I mean, we're a nonprofit, so the shows right now are free for the facility. A lot of these places can't afford to hire a comedian. Just I guess getting them to understand that I've been where these people are and that you know I can share my experiences of recovery and how great life is on the other side of recovery. Like I used to pitch it like, yeah, we're a comedy show, we want to come do comedy for you guys. It's it's really a service, a support service for the facility. Because we're there to reinforce what their staff is trying to get through to them. Like, I'm here for the slack offs that are just ready to get through it and go out and use again and try to be like, look, these are really great people that really care about you, that are here to help you. You should listen to what they have to say. Because more often than not, the staff in the facility are also recovering addicts.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay. So with that, it's it's almost kind of the self-feeding structure of support. Absolutely. Trying to make sure that everybody that is part of the system of recovery can then also heal from everything.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's how the recovery rooms are, is it's a bunch of people just like you that have done a bunch of stupid stuff just like you. Right. But that you can learn from that, you know, have more sobriety under their belt, that basically mentor other people to attain their own sobriety.

SPEAKER_00:

So then I have a bit of a hardball question. You can call me a bad guy later. Hey, no worries. Oh no. But back off, Nolan. Just kidding. It's okay, Garrett. Down boy. It's all right, I'll give you doughnut later. But I'm historically a club rat. I've loved going dancing ever since I could go to an 18 and up bar, mostly just because I needed a dance floor, loud thump thump music, and some karaoke in house. Right. So I was always the one that when people would ask me, it's like, what are you on, man? I'm like, I'm stone cold sober. And they would get very terrified very quickly and walk away from the dude who's dancing in public and karaokeing sober. Right. I've also been to a lot of open mic nights. I've been to a lot of just comedy events, things of that nature. And what I've found just from also hearing people's stories from Hollywood and other things from one part of the comedy scene to another, is this addictive quality of being on stage, of being around people and having that social validation. Oh, yeah. Your model is completely different than that.

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00:

This is all about a space of healing. Yep. So how would we apply Adrian's model of comedy and utilizing it to alchemize the darkness into some bright joy? And apply that to normal comedy culture.

SPEAKER_01:

Originally, when I first started this, I wanted to be support for addiction for comedians. There's a great organization. It's called Heart Support, and it's a mental health and support for the uh metal community. And that's kind of where the idea first stemmed from. And I was like, I'd like to be support. Dude, there's so much addiction in comedy. Yeah. It's like I mean, look at the greats, right? Robin Williams, you've got John Belushi, like Lenny Bruce. Exactly. So it's really frickin' everywhere. I think the best way that I can do that is show how much fun I'm having and I'm not drunk or or using drugs. That I am starting to excel. I'm trying to get into the clubs right now. That's a that's a selling point. The clubs don't want for real shows. The clubs don't want somebody that's hammered hosting their shows. Yeah. So whenever I'm corresponding with the club, it's like anything else you want to tell us? Yeah, I'm sober. I work clean and I'm sober. No impairment ever. I'm not sure how to impart my model on comedy as a whole, except for just showing people that it is possible to have fun. Sober.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. And they have to experience that for themselves at this point.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. If they're ready. And that's sometimes sometimes people aren't ready. You can't you can lead a horse to water, you can't make him drink. Yeah. I know that's so cliche, but but it's true, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00:

Not for the horse. I I I was just watching the the new comedy special that Kamal Nangiani put out with Hulu, and he had a big section where he was talking about therapy and an anxiety. And I feel like I feel like that's one thing. I I was a I was a big cigarette smoker throughout high school and college because I had anxiety. And I was you're like, hey, this this kind of makes me not anxious. And I imagine that, you know, kind of the the you know usage of of a variety of different substances probably comes into play with some of some of that overlay of some of the things we feel. Oh, absolutely. So with with folks who who maybe are are you have what I don't even know the phrase. I'm trying multiple layers going on, you know. Maybe they they have addiction going on, but they also just have a variety of of things in their life. How do they use comedy where you're potentially gonna be in front of a lot of people and you know I so historically you wouldn't see me without a beer in my hand in public?

SPEAKER_01:

I was like one of those guys that was like, I will die with a beer in my hand. And when I stopped, I had to kind of like refigure out who I was. I kind of withdrew even at like open mics and stuff, and kind of kept to myself. And I'm like, I kind of don't know who I am without this, and so I had to kind of like refigure it out. Now it's been I've been sober for 27 months, and I'm back to the normal, loud, obnoxious person that I used to be. Just the sober version. So it's finding that finding out who you are, kind of. Yeah, absolutely. Self-acceptance, not having to use that as a crutch. I think stand-up comedy helps with that too. There's a documentary called Closers Only, and it's it's about Kevin Hart and Chris Rock headlining the Madison Square Garden. Oh wow. And in that documentary, Jerry Seinfeld says learning to perform stand-up comedy is learning to be your authentic self. And it's totally that way. It's it's very interesting thing because you're literally just learning who you are and it's a process, it takes time. But yeah, learning learning to be who you are in front of a big room full of people.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I know you mentioned earlier that the shows you put on a lot of times are free, y'all are nonprofit, but I love everything that I'm hearing today. And so how do you how do you make make the money portion to be able to to grow things? And how can people be a support to you as you're growing this awesome organization?

SPEAKER_01:

Donations is how we typically make our money to keep them going. I put on fundraising shows. Typically, anything that I do in comedy outside of Life of Laugh, I put towards Life of Laughter to make these shows go because this gives me spiritually more than anything I could do as like a paid gig or anything like that. I just booked a show at Twister's Comedy Club, and we had a bunch of people out there. Typically, you know, I at first I wanted to do like a sober show for the sober community. That's kind of alienating an entire group of people because normal people like you may be able to have a beer or two beers or three beers and be fine. Me, it's like, let's go. I'm gonna wind up on the side of the road dressed like Pee-Wee Herman. Where's my bike? But uh yeah, so my future shows will be uh Twisters is is in the process of building a bar. Okay, so future shows there will be alcohol provided if someone wants that, but I don't want to alienate people that want to be involved because some people want to go out and have a drink or two and and watch a comedy show. But yeah, different different events that I put on. I've done a couple sober events where the event promoter hired me on as a performer. I'm doing a Valentine's Day show to try and solicit some donations with another nonprofit. So yeah, all there's all sorts of avenues. That's amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, me, I argue that my ideal client profile are all the same type of people, right? Artists, parents, and business owners, they're all creatives in one form or fashion or another. So I would encourage any workaholics, parentaholics, or artaholics to please talk to Adrian. Where can they find you to do business with you?

SPEAKER_01:

You can find more information about Life of Laughter at lifeoflaughter.org. You can find me on social media. You can find my personal page at Yo A D comedy. Yo Adrian. Um so yeah, I mean you can you can find me on socials and you can find me uh on the uh website and look for shows around town because I'm always looking to I'm a I'm kind of an intention whore. I'm always looking to get up, get up and and do some comedy.

SPEAKER_00:

Excellent. Well, Adrian has been excellent having you here on the Think Biz podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Excellent being here.

SPEAKER_00:

And we will make sure to send anybody to the four o'clock group to make sure to schedule some one to ones with you. Absolutely. Otherwise, let's sign off here. Let's all remember to stay sharp and think biz.

Head Shot

Garrett Hammonds

Co-host
Head Shot

Nolan Clay Rogers

Co-host